Book stitching and delivering



Aug. 19, 1952 E. w. BELLUCHE BOOK STITCHING AND DE LIVERING MACHINE 8 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 5, 1949 59mm Elmer II YB ZZ EZI w. B ELLUCHE 2,607,587 BOOK STiTCHING A ND DELIVERING Mumps 8 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 5, 1949 :FFWM w 9, 1952 E. w. BLLucHE 2,607,587

BOOK STITCHING AND DELIVERING MACHINE v Filed Aug. 3, 1949 8 Sheets-Sheet 5 CHM LOWEEED SPRING RAISED Aug. 19, 1952 E. w. BELLUCHE 075 7 BOOK STITCHING AND DELIVERING MACHINE Filed Aug. 5, 1949 8 Sh'eefis-Shge't 4 Aug. 19, 1952 E. WFBELLUCHE 2,607,587

' oox STITNCH'ING AND DELIVERING MACHINE FiledAu'g. 5, i949 -s Sheets-Sheet s QWMM 19, 1952 E. w. B'ELLUCHE BOOK- STITCHING AND DELIVERING MACHINE v Filed Aug. 3, 1949 8 Sheets-Sheet 6 Aug. 19, 1952 E. w. BELLUCHE BOOK STITCHING AND DELIVERING MAQHINE 8 Sheets-Sheet 7 Filed Aug. 3, 1949 E. W. BELLUCHE BOOK STITCHING AND DELIVERING MACHINE 8 Sheets-Sheet 8 v Filed Aug. 3, 1949 OwIUthm 625m xOOD .0 Sci .rZOmE 35:5 wzmm oon to 3% -28 ll wmz zortwom qz zoEmou WQGmI MMIPPCIW Patented Aug. 19, 1952 BOOK STITCHING AND DELIVERING MACHINE Elmer W. Belluchc, Racine, Wis., assignor to The Christensen Machine Company, Racine, Wis., a corporation of Wisconsin Application August 3, 1949, Serial No. 108,397

7 Claims.

This invention relates to book stitching machines of the type wherein a group of nested signatures is stitched together by wire staples and refers particularly to the delivery mechanism thereof.

Such stitching machines generally comprise a signature collecting and conveying chain movable past, or more directly under, a series of loading stations upon which the individual signatures are placed. Pushers mounted on the chain at spaced intervals strip the signatures off the loading stations and gather them into groups. The groups of signatures thus gathered are advanced by the chain to a saddle where grippers present them to stitcher heads. The stitcher heads drive a suitable number of wire staples into each group of signatures and the books thus formed are advanced further along the saddle to a delivery mechanism which deposits them in a seriated bank upon a table provided with intermittently moving tapes or belts.

Inasmuch as this invention is concerned chiefly with the delivery mechanism it embodies some of the structure disclosed in Patent No. 1,879,040 issued September 27, 1932, to Elmer W. Belluche. In that patent the intermittent advance of the tapes of the delivery table was coordinated with the delivery of the stitched books so that the bank of books on the delivery table would remain at rest during those cycles of the machine when no book was discharged from the machine. This assured uniform spacing between the edges of the books on the delivery table.

To efiect this result the aforesaid patent provided a feeler which felt for the stitched books as they were about to be delivered, and mechanism controlled by the feeler governed the operation of the means for intermittently advancing the tapes of the delivery table.

The present invention also coordinates the intermittent advance of the books on the delivery table with the delivery of the stitched books; but in addition utilizes the same feeler which effects this coordination for preventing elevation of the tucker blades (by which the stitched books are liftedoif the saddle into the bite of the delivery rolls) except when a fully stitched book is in proper position for delivery.

In other words, this invention contemplates the provision of means for making the elevation of the tucker blades dependent upon the presence of a stitched book in proper position for delivery. By this means, as will appear more fully hereinafter, the present invention greatly simplifies adapting the machine to book lengths is stitched and delivered each cycle while with two-up work two cycles are required to stitch I one book and a book isdelivered only every other requiring two-up, three-up or even four,- up operation. These terms are well known in the industry so that for those skilled in the art no explanation is needed. However, it may be briefly noted that with one up work a book cycle, and three-up" operation requires three cycles for each book. Books are seldom longer than a length which can be handled with threeup operation, but in each instance where the book exceeds the length which can be handled with one-up operation, the leading end of the book is stitched during one cycle and the trailing end of the book is stitched during the next cycle or, if necessary, three or perhaps four cycles of the machine may be allocated to the stitching of a single book. In this manner the scope of the work which can be handled by the machine is materially increased and in addition the machine is not as susceptible to shutdown as a result of failure of one of the stitcher heads, which often happens.

Obviously to enable such stepwise stitching of the books it is essential that the tucker blades be restrained from elevation until the fully stitched book is wholly within the delivery. In the past this entailed changing cams and adjusting other mechanism, whereas with'the present invention, switching from one type of operation to another, as for instance from one-up to two-up work requires merely shifting the location of the feeler.

As noted hereinbefore, the delivery belts or tapes which collectively provide an apron onto which the stitched books are discharged, are intermittently advanced so that the stitched books lay thereon in a seriated row or bank. Operators remove the books from the discharge end of the delivery table, and to facilitate keeping count of the books this inventionprovides means for increasing the advance of the delivery belts at stated intervals'so as to periodically effect wider spaces between the books disposed thereon.

This increased advance of the delivery belts to facilitate counting, as well as the regular intermittent advance of the delivery belts, of course, must be coordinated with the discharge of books from the machine, more specifically from the saddle of the machine, and to assure such coordination, it is another object of this invention to govern the operation of the mechanism effecting these three functions'viz. removal of the stitched books from the saddlepregular inter ment of the hereindisclosed invention. may be,

made as come Within the scope of the claims.

The accompanying drawings illustrate one complete example of the physical embodiment. of the invention constructed according to the best mode so far devised for the practical application of the principles thereof, and in which:

Figure 1 is a front view of the delivery mechanism of a signature stitching machine embody ing this invention with parts thereof broken away, said View showing the parts in the positions they occupy just before the tucker blades lift the stitched book into the bite of the delivery rolls; Figure 1A is an enlarged fragmentary detail View illustrating the feeler i-n'position engaging a stitched book on the saddle;

Figure 2 is a view similar-to-Figure 1 but'showing the parts in' the positions occupied the nstant of ,maximum elevation of the tucker blades, with the stitched-book lifted-thereby in the bite of the delivery rolls, and the feeler lifted;

Figure 3 is a view similar toF-igure 1 but showing the parts in the positions occupied when no book is in position to prevent full descent of the feeler, so that the delivery mechanism, including the tucker blades, is held inoperative;

Figure 4 is a View similar to Figure 3 but illus-- trating the mechanism advanced slightly beyond the position shown in Figure 3 with the feeler lifted but the latch which holds the mechanism inoperative still engaged;

Figure 5 is a sectional view through Figure 1 on the plane ofthe line 5-5;

Figure 6 is a top plan view of the mechanism shown in the previously identified views;

Figure '7 is a perspective View of the mechanism with the individual elements thereof separated to more clearly indicate their functional relationship; I

Figure 8-is a cross sectional view through the delivery table illustrating, the-double pawl belt advancing mechanism;

Figure 9 is a view similar to Figure 8 but illustrating the parts at an instant in. the-cycle of the machine just after that shown in Figure 8 with the pawl which advances the delivery belts the long step engaged and about to effect such advance;

Figure 10. is a view similar to Figures 8' and 9 buit with the parts in the positions occupied directly after the long advance ofthe delivery belts Figure 11 is a detail sectional View through Figure on the plane of they line ll-! 1 illustrating the manner in which the long advance of the delivery belts is precludedexcept at predetermined widely spaced intervals; and

Figure. 12 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the application of this invention to'two-up work wherein two cycles of the machine are required to. stitch one book and a, book is. delivered every other cycle. 7

Referring now particularly to. the accompanying drawings in which like numerals indicate like parts throughout the several views, the numeral Li indicates the delivery end frame of the ma- 4 chine, adjacent to which most of the mechanism involved in this invention is located. Since the invention is not concerned with the signature gathering or the stitching means the entire machine has not been illustrated. For a disclosure of the type of machine to which the invention pertains reference may be had to Patents Nos. 1,314,503 issued September 2, 1919 and 1,716,773 issued June 11, 1929.

Extending from the end frame 4 is an inverted V-shaped saddle indicated generally by the nu meral 5 alongwhich the gathered signatures are advanced by gripper fingers 6 to stitcher heads (diagrammatically shown in Figure 12) where wire staples are driven into each group of signatures to stitch the same into a book. On the next succeeding cycle of the machine the book just stitched is advanced farther along the saddle towards the end frame 4 to a delivery position.

The saddle 5 comprises two angularly disposed front and back plates 1 and 8, the former having an elongated slot 9 extending lengthwise thereof near its top edge. The upper edges of'these plates 1 and 8 are spaced apart to permit tucker blades [9 to pass upwardlytherebetween and by this action lift a stitched book resting on the saddle in position for delivery into the bite of cooperating delivery rolls H and E2.

The delivery rolls H are carried by a shaft it which is journalled for rotationon a fixed axis, while the rolls l2 are carried by a shaft l4 adapted for lateral movement toward and from the shaft L3. For this purpose the shaft I l is journalled in bearings carried by levers :5, only one of which is shown, mounted to turn about a stationary tie rod 15. A spring ll'connected to an arm 18 extending from one of the levers I5 yieldingly urges the rolls .12 toward the rolls H.

Rotation is positively and continuously imparted to the delivery rolls through gearing shown in Figure 6. This gearing comprises a main gear I9 mounted on a power shaft 20 which is suitably driven from the machine. The main gear It meshes with a large gear 21 fixed to a cam shaft 22 and meshing with a gear 23 on the shaft 13. The gear 2.l is also drivingly connected with a similar gear 24 fixed to the shaft l4 through an intermediate idler gear 25 so that the rolls I l and i2 both rotate in the. right direction. The idler gear 25 is mounted on a. stub shaft fixed in the frame 4 substantially directly under the gear 2 so that lateral movement of the gear 2d as the rolls l2 move toward and from their companion rolls Ii will not disrupt the drive to the gear 2%. The cam shaft 22 is journalled in a bearing carried by the end frame 4 and passes through the frame. to mount the gear 2| at the inner face thereof and cams 26 and 2'! at its outer face. As will appear more fully hereinafter, the cam 25 may be identified as a feeler cam and the cam 27 as a delivery cam.

The tucker blades H] are mounted on a bar 28 extending lengthwise of the saddle at the delivery end thereof, and this bar 28. is normally raised and lowered once during. each cycle of operation of the machine. Ascent of the bar. 28 and the tucker blades it. fixed thereto is effected impositively by spring means, not shown, while descent of the bar 28 and the. tucker blades carried thereby is. eflected positively by a cam, not shown. The means for raising andlowering the tucker blades is thus similar to that employed in Patent No.v 1,750,622 issued March 18, 1930, but contrary to past practice means are provided for restraining ascent. of the bar 23 and the tucker blades.

carried thereby except when a stitched book is in position to be delivered. This means comprises a latching finger 29 fixed'to a shaft 36 and depending therefrom to be moved into and out of the path of an abutment 3| movable with the bar 28. Thus when the latching finger 29 is in its locking position as shown in Figures 1, 3 and 7, the tucker blades l0 willbe restrained against ascent. V

The latching finger is yieldingly urged into the path of the abutment 3| by a spring 32 (see Figures 1 and 2), one end of which is anchored as at 33 and the other end of which is connected to an arm 34 fixed to the shaft 36. The spring thus biases the shaft in a clockwise direction tending, at all times to hold the latching finger in the path of the abutment 3|, this position being defined by the engagement of the side of the latching finger with the face of the tucker bar carrier 35 on which the abutment 3| is fixed.

Once each cycle the shaft 30 is oscillated in a counter-clockwise direction by the delivery cam 21, this action being so timed that the latching finger 29 is moved out of the path of the abutment 3| just before ascent of the tucker blades is to take place. However, if a book is not in position to be delivered, which fact is determined position restraining the tucker blades against ascent.

The feeler 36, which is preferably a wheel, is mounted on the outer end of an arm 31 fixed to but adjustable lengthwise of a shaft 38. This shaft extends along the length of the delivery portion of the saddle and is journalled in bearings 39 carried by brackets 40 depending from the frame 4| of the delivery table indicated generally by the numeral 42, only one of the brackets 48 and one of the bearings 39 being illustrated.

The end of the shaft 38 which protrudes from the bearing 39 illustrated and which, of course, is adjacent to the end frame 4 has a lever 43 fixed thereto and this lever has tWo arms 44 and 45, the former extending into the path of a roller 46 carried by a lever 41 and the latter'being engageable by an adjustable abutment screw 48 carried by an arm 49 forming part of a bell crank lever 50 loose on the outer end of the shaft 38.

The other arm 5| of the bell crank lever is connected through a link 52 with a latch 53. The latch 53 is pivoted upon a stub shaft 54 fixed in the end frame 4 and overlies a combination latch bar and driving link 55. The top edge of this bar 55 has a notch 56 therein to provide a keeper recess into which the end of the latch 53 may drop to restrain endwise movement of the link 55 toward the right as viewed in Figure 1 such movement, if permitted, being imparted to the link 55 by a strong tension spring 51 connected to a compound lever 58.

The compound lever 58 is pivoted on a stub shaft 59 projecting from the frame 4, and has the link 55 connected to one arm 66 thereof as at 6|. The spring 51 is connected to another arm 62 of the compound lever while a third arm 63 carries a cam follower roller 64 adapted to track upon and follow the delivery cam 21 provided the'latch 53 is not engaged in thekeeper'recess'56. V

A fourth arm 65 of the compound lever 58 has a cam shaped outer end engageable With a roller 66 on the arm 34 to rock the shaft 38 in a counterclockwise direction and thereby swingthelatching finger 29 out of the path of the abutment 3 I.. It is to be noted, however, that the shaft 38 will 6. not be so rotated unless the latch 53 is disengaged from its keeper recess 56, and this in turn depends upon whether or not the feeler 36 has been permitted to drop down intojthe slot 9; v

The shaft 38 is positively rocked 'in a clockwise direction by the feeler cam 26 acting through the levers 41 and 43, the former being pivoted upon the stub shaft 54 and carrying a roller 61 which tracks upon and follows the cam 26. A tension spring 68 having one end anchored as at 33 and its other end connected to the lever 41 as at 69 yieldingly holds the roller 61 in tracking engagement with the cam 26. As the cam rotates, its high point swings the lever 41 in a counter-clockwise direction to engage its roller 46 with the arm 44 of the lever 43 and against the tension of a spring 16 positively rock the shaft 38 in a clockwise direction. Such clockwise rotation of the shaft 38, of course, lifts the feeler 36 as shown in Figure 4 to permit the next succeeding book to be advanced to delivery position without having the feel-er ride thereover.

As the cam 26 continues to rotate and the roller 61 rides down onto the low part of the cam, the spring 68 swings the lever 41in aclockwise di rection which allows the spring lfltoimpositively turn the shaft 38 in a counter-clockwise direction to lower the feeler 36. As the "shaft 38 rocks, the bell crank 50 which is loose thereon-follows by virtue of its connection with the lever 43 afforded by a spring 86 reacting against the screw 48, and as a result effects engagement of the latch 53 in its keeper recess 56 to thus prevent elevation of the tucker blade and advance of the books resting on the delivery table 42'.

If the feel-er is held against dropping down into the slot 9, as by a stitched book on the saddle as shown in Figure 1A, counter-clockwise rotation of the shaft 33 and the bell crank lever 56 is limited. By so restraining the bell crank lever against further counter-clockwise rotation, the latch 53, is held against dropping down into its keeper recess 56 whereupon the combined latching bar and driving link 55 is free to move to the right as the roller 64 follows the low portion of the delivery cam 21. I i

Thus it will be seen that whenever the feeler 36 is held against dropping down into the slot 9 the latch 53 is held out of its keeper recess 56 and the mechanism is free to operate in the'normal manner to effect delivery of the stitched book which held the feeler from dropping into the slot 9 and also to effect intermittent advance of the seriated bank of books resting onthe delivery table42. l a V The manner in which the books are lifted into the bite of the delivery rolls l|-I2 has already been described and as will'be readily apparent once the book is in the bite-of these rolls their continuous rotation carries the book upwardly to be deflected by a guide 1 l -onto the delivery table 42. As is customary, the delivery table comprises an endless apronformed by a plurality'of sideby-side endless belts 12 (only one of which is shown) trained over suitably mounted pulleys to be intermittently advanced by a pawl and ratchet mechanism indicated generally by the numeral 73, and actuated by'ther'ocking motion of the compound lever 58.

The driving shaft 14 for the delivery belts has a ratchet wheel 75 fixed theretowvith which two pawls 16 and 11 coact. The pawl T16 is pivoted on one end of'a lever 18 which in turn is medially pivoted on the shaft'14, and'theotherend of the lever 18is connected with the ar'm60 of thecompoi-ind let-eats .t sueh a l Th th roclging; motion;- ef tha compound lever 58 is-imart d to th evellli an t an of this motion is such that during each cycle of the machine thepawijlfi will be. advanced and retracted a distance slightly greater than the pitch of the ratchet wheel15 to advance the wheel one ih- I .TI L s The; pawl "i l is pivotedaon a lever 80 which is also rochedabout the shaft 74 by the compound lever 58; acting through. the link 55. The lever 53 thus provides a common driver for both pawls, but since the ,motion imparted to the link 55 is greater than that given thelink l9 and the connection of the; link- 55 to: the lever 89 is closer to. the, axis of theshaft l4 than the connection betweenthelever lfi and the. link 19, the throw of thepawl IT is g-reaterthan thatof the other pawl l6. Actually, in the present instance it is twicethat ofthe pawl-15;.

held out of eng agement with the teeth of the ratchet wheel .l5-.by a loch-out roller 8!. on the free end-pfa pivoted lever 82-. This roller 8 llies between the pawl, Tl and a hub 83 on the ratchet wheel [5,,thadiameter ofthe hubv being sufficient to hold the pawl. 11 ou'tof engagement with the ratchet wheelexceptwhena notch 84 in the hub aligns with the lock out' roller 5! c I A comparison-of Figures 8, 9 and 10 illustrates the manner inwhich thelock-out roller 8| masks the pawl 11 through the greater portionof rotation of theratchet wheel but permits the pawl 11 to engage-the ratchet w-heelonce each revolution thereof. Thus sincethe throw of the pawl 11 is twice that of thepawl; 15- it advances the ratchet wheel two teeth once each full rotation of theratchet wheel v 7 By virtue of this long advance of the delivery belts once each complete-rotation of the ratchet wheel thecounting ofthe books as they are taken off the delivery table is facilitated since the seriated bank of books thereon will be divided: into groups of equal number which; in the present instancais ten. 7 V v I It is, of course, to be understood that the pawls i5 and Ti areyieldi-ngly biased into engagement with the teeth of, theratchet wheel, and to hold the look-out: roller 811 against thev undersideof the hub 83 and cause it to ride into the notch 84 the lever 82 is yieldingly urged upwardly by a tension spring 85; I It should also be noted that to enable the look-out roller 81 to hold the pawl ll out of engagement with the teeth of the ratchet wheel this pawl is wider than the ratchet Y are yieldingly held together by the tension spring oweyer the. pawl 11; is normally masked or 85, these twolevers normally move in unison.

7 However, if the latch 53 has been: engaged with its. keeper recess 56 as a result of the feeler 35 dropping downinto the slot 9, subsequent. positive clockwise rotation of the lever 43 imparted thereto byi'the feeler-cam- 2'6 acting through the lever A l lifts thesfeeler withoutaffecting the position .of the bell crank lever and sensequently the engagement. of the latch 53' in its keeper recess 55. In thiscase the levers 43 and 55 merely move relatively to each other against the tension of the spring 86. g c c r If during the next cycle of the machine a stitched book is advanced to delivery position at which it blocks descent of the feeler into the slot 9 (as in Figures 1 and 1A) the spring will swing the lever 55 clockwise the distance permitted by the adjustment of the screw iilas soon as the tension on the latch 53 is relieved by leftward movement of thelink 55 as the high point on the delivery cam 21 passes over the cam follower 54. With this spring actuated movement of the bell crank lever 55- the latch 53 is lifted out of its keeperrecess 55, the screw 48 enabling the relationship between the latch and its keeper to be adjusted to the proper setting.

As noted hereinbefore, the arm 31 which carries the feeler is adjustable lengthwise of. the shaft 38. Consequently the feeler may be located at any point along the length of the saddle so as to assure its being properly positioned regardless of the length of the signatures being handled. Also, by this simple expedient of adjusting the position of the feeler location the machine may be adapted for so-called two-up, three-up, or even four-up work. Figure 12 diagrammatically illustrates two-up operation of the machine. 1 7

In this case the book is approximately twice the length that can be adequately encompassed by the stitcher heads, but in view of the fact that the ascent of the tucker blades canbe restrained until the feeler 36 dictates the operation thereof, and since the feeler location has been adjusted to two-up operation, the first half of the book may be stitched during one cycle, or as indicated in Figure 12, during position No. l and then during the next cycle, position No. 2, the rear half of the book is stitched. Twosuccessive cycles of the machine are thus devoted to the stitchingof a single book. During the next cycle of the machine when. the. book is advanced to positionNo. 3 it is wholly in the delivery mechanism and the feeler 35 has been kept from drop; ping down into the slot 9 whereupon the mechanism functions to effect the delivery of the fully stitched book. 7

With the machine in operation and stitched books following one right behind the other a book will be delivered every other cycle of the machine on such two-up work, but if bychance an hiatus occurs in the presentment of the groups of signatures to. the stitcher heads and delivery mechanism, the feeler 36 dr0pping down into the slot 9 Willpreclude operation of the tucker blades and the delivery belts until a book is again in proper delivery position. v

It is,.of course, to beu-nderstood that the stroke of the gripper fingers 6 and the gripper barwith which they coact is adjustable and may be set or fixed .at any desired length within the range of the machine. 1

From the foregoing description taken irr connection with the accompanying drawings it will be readily apparent to those skilled in-theart that the book or signature stitching? machine of this invention possesses a valuable advantage over such machines of the past since it enables the machine to be quickly and easily adapted for fone-up and two-up, and, if necessary; even fthree-up or four-up work; that it facilitates manual counting of thebooks taken from its delivery table; and assures propercoordination between the removal of the books from the saddle and. the intermittent advance of the delivery belts, both regular and long, by having all three of these functions controlled by the same feeler.

. What I claim as my invention is:

1. In a book stitchingmachine of the character described: a saddle -l on which stitched -the apron,'said intermittent advance of the apron effected by,v said pawl and ratchetrmechanism beingin uniform increments; other'pawl and ratchet mechanismu'for periodically advancing the apron a greater distance so'that books deposited upon the apron are arranged in groups spaced apart a greater distance than the uni- .form spacing of the books in each group; a feeler positioned to. feel for a book on the. saddle; and mechanism controlledby the feeler arresting operationv of the tucker blade and both pawl and ratchet mechanisms :so' that removal of a book from the saddle andall advance of the apron are dependent upon the same controlling condition.

;12.. Ina ibook stitching machine of the characterlf described} the combination of: a saddle to support groups of signatures to be stitched and books produced by the stitching of such signatures; stitcher heads'positioned above the saddlel for stitching groups of signatures presented thereto; a tucker blade mounted for movement upwardly through the saddle at a distance downstream from the stitchersto lift "stitched books off the saddle; a' spring biasing the tucker'blade upwardly; meansrfor positively retracting the tucker blade each cycle of the machine; means reciprocable along thelsaddle for advancing groups of signatures to astitching position under the stitcherheads and for advancing stitched books to a delivery position on the saddle above the tucker blade; said means having a predetermined stroke and operating to effect an advance of the signatures and books on the saddle a fixed distance once each cycle of the machine so that books no longer than said predetermined stroke can be fully stitched during one cycle,

advanced to the delivery position and lifted off the saddle by the tucker blade during the next cycle while books longer than said predetermined stroke can be adequately stitched by devoting two or more successive cycles to the stitching operation and restrainingthe ascent of the tucker blade until the book has been fully stitched and wholly advanced to the delivery position; latch means biased to an engaged posi-' tion' restraining the tucker blade against spring means and through which the latch mean is disengaged to efiect spring produced upward movement of the tuckerf blade whenever the detector means detects a'book' ion the saddle but is left engaged durin'githosefcycles of' the ma.-

' chine when no book is present to'be detected by the detector means.

3. In a book stitching machine of thecha'racter described, the combination of: a saddle to support groups of signatures to be stitched and books produced by the stitching of such signatures; stitcher heads positioned above the saddle for stitching groups of signatures presented thereto; a tucker blade mounted for movement upwardly through the saddle at a distance downstream from the stitchers to lift stitched books off the saddle; a springbiasing,thetucker blade upwardly; means for' positively retracting the tucker blade each cycle of the machine; means reciprocable along the saddle for advancing groups of signatures to a stitchinglposition under the stitcher heads and for advancingstitched books to a delivery position on'the saddle above the tucker blade, said means having a predetermined stroke and operating to" effect an advance of the signatures andbooks on the saddle a fixed distance once each cycle of, the machine; latch means biased to; an engaged position restraining the tucker blade against spring produced upward'movement from its retractedposition; a feeler for, controlling the latchj means; motion transmitting and controlling linkage operatively connecting the feeler with the latch means; said linkage including arock-shaft'upon which the feeler is mounted andby which it is moved toward and from the saddle to feel for books on the saddle, sa id r ock shaft extending lengthwise of the saddle at that portion thereof adjacent to the tucker blade; and means securing the feeler to the rock shaft at any point along the length thereofso that the feeler may be positioned to feel for a completely stitched book directly upon presentment thereof wholly into the delivery position regardless of the number of cycles required to stitch the book and whereby the tucker blade may be held inoperative during certain cycles of the machine and books longer than can be adequately {stitched-during one cycle of the machine may be handled by devoting more than onecycle to thestitching thereof. a p k {1. In a book, stitching machine; a saddle. along which stitched books are advanced to a delivery position; a delivery table including a movable apron; mechanism including a'tucker blade for lifting a stitched book off the saddle and discharging it onto the' movable apron; pawl and ratchet means for intermittently advancing the apron; afcam operating in timed relation with said mechanism; a'motion transmitting connection between'lthe cam and the pawllof said pawl and ratchet means for' posi'tively advancing the pawl; a spring actingupon said :motion transmitting connection for impositively retracting the pawl, the timing between the operation of the tucker blade and the cam coordinating the intermittent advance of the apron with the discharge of the books onto the apron; a, latch engageable with said motion transmitting connection to restrain the same against spring produced motion; a feeler movable toward and from the saddle and positioned to detect a book in delivery position on the saddle above the tucker blade to have its motion toward the saddle arrested by a book in such position but movable beyond its book engaging position whenever no book is present on 1 the atc and-o e able in s ue ce to o e th geddletq arrestthi m tion '91 t e fee e and mechan sm'ppe at v c nn etihe h fegle? w T -Qi h i ele e ndit s hb ensa mg P i.-

tion'to effect engagement'ofthe latch.

"5, In a bool; stitchingmachine of the character ;desoribed: a saddle along which books are advanced to a boo]; stitching position; a tucker blade movable upwardly through a portion'of the sadd e d inin a del e position and, cat da di ta ce down am m e t n posi i n, to, lif a it e t o k t e fr I me anism Q ad n n th bo k 'a n'sthe saddlefrogn. the stitching position to he; delivery position; a d l very table includin {movable a stitched book from the tuclger blade to said @D IQQ; :pawl and ratchetmechams'm for intrittentlv. adYenQ-ine t a o u u rotating pane; a latch Qperableto restrain upward movement of the tucker bladeya motion transmitting connection-between the cam and the pawl and ratchet-mechanism; a motion transt n 1 ii n'betwenth m an a {latch} element commonto "said twou'notion 1 transmitting connections and having a'cam folr W? th u h which thecam acts to p sitively nce t e E at n i; w tr he ition o h t h a spring a t n 'up ng aid mm le n to cause it to follovv the oar n and in doing Soto 'impositively retract the pawl and disengage said "latoh; a [second-latch operable :to restrain said a m ni element against spring .produced cam permitted movement to therebv-preclude retractionofthe pawl and-disengagement of the tucker 'bladilatch; a ieeler movable toward and from the saddle and positioned to detect a book in the deliverypositionon 'thdsaddleto have its 5 blade latch,

motion toward the -saddle arrestedibyr abook thereon but'movab-le beyond its boolg engaging position whenever no bookis-present on the saddle to arrest the motion of thetfeele'r; and

mechanism" operatively connecting the feeler and said second latch and operable in consequence. to

movement of the feeler beyond its book engaging 9 position toeffect engagement of the second latch andv hereby pretentdisengagement oi-thetuclger 6; In a book stitching machine: a saddleupon whichstitched books areisupported; a tucker blade movable 'upwardlythrough the, saddle to lift thestitchedboolgs ofi'fthe saddle; a latch movable to and from, an engaged position' restraining upward movement of the tucker blade;

a spring biasing the latch toits-engaged position; a continuously rotating cam; a pivoted lever having a cam follower'riding -on said cam; a motion transmitting connection between said lever and the latch operable during movement of the'lever in following the low portion of. the

cam to disengage the latch; a spring acting upon s'a}id lever to normally cause the same to follow 'aeoz'se? the am: a t sii t ii itq ee f nga d i-n n. e tz'a z ...g a de' e motion of the lever; afeele'r movable' tovvard and from? the saddle' and positioned to -feel for a book thereon to have Fits; 'filbitiqll toward the saddle arrested by a' booli on the saddle but movable beyond its book engaging position whenever 'no book is present-on the s'aldclle'to arrest motion of the feeler; and mechanism operatively connecting the feeler with-said second latch and operable in consequence tomovement of the feeler beyond its book-engaging position'to efiect engagement of said second latch. r I 7. In a book stitching machine of the character described: a saddle along which signatures to be stitched and the stitched'books are' advanced; a cam operated-delivery mechanismin-V eluding a tucker. to' lift stitched bo'oksfl-oh the saddle; a lock-out latch movableito' and irom an engaged position restrainingisaid mechanism against operation; arock shaft "parallel to the saddle; 'a feeler. fixed'toithe rocktshaft to be swung byoscillation40f the rock shaft laterally toward the saddle:and past the same if no book is present thereon tolarrest the ffeelerh; a rotatable cam; means including azcamfollower riding on the cam and a sprmg'foretranslating rotation of'the cam into oscillation ;of-' the rock shaft'in a direction such that the. feeleriis positively swung away,v from the saddles-and iimpositively' moved toward the saddle; a: lever, pivoted ttosrook about the axis of the rock shaftgia motion controlling 

